Conventionally, an application controlling apparatus which is incorporated into, for example, equipment like a car navigation apparatus, and which manages various application programs (simply referred to as “applications” from here on) so as to make the equipment execute an application properly is known. Applications which are managed by this application controlling apparatus include basic applications for implementing the basic functions of the equipment, and extended applications for implementing additional functions for improving the convenience of the equipment, which are not the basic functions of the equipment.
As such an application controlling apparatus, patent reference 1 discloses an application controlling apparatus which even if an extended application (referred to as an additional application in the reference) hangs up, can return to a management screen provided by an application manager which manages basic applications (referred to as existing applications in the reference) without forcing an application manager which manages the extended application to terminate.
The application controlling apparatus disclosed by this patent reference 1 is constructed so that a basic application is managed by the first application manager and an extended application is managed by the second application manager, and switching from the second application manager to the first application manager is carried out by a screen control unit which can run independently from the second application manager. Thereby, even if an extended application or the second application manager hangs up, the prior art application controlling apparatus can switch to the first application manager's screen.    [Patent Reference 1] JP,2003-271397,A
The application controlling apparatus disclosed by above-mentioned patent reference 1, when an extended application hangs up, can return to the management screen provided by the application manager which manages basic applications without forcing the application manager which manages the extended application to terminate. A problem with the prior art application controlling apparatus is, however, that in the event that an extended application runs away out of control and this results in either exhaustion of the memory of the system or entering into an endless loop and then occupying the CPU (Central Processing Unit), and the application controlling apparatus then falls out of control and the operations of basic applications are therefore affected, the application controlling apparatus cannot take appropriate measures.
The present invention is made in order to solve the problem, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an application controlling apparatus which can take appropriate measures even if an extended application falls out of control, and a storage medium which stores software used for the apparatus.